CareerCurve™

Given the economic conditions, it is highly likely that you have employees currently experiencing the stress of an unemployed spouse.  Unemployment ranks near the top of the list when it comes to most stress-inducing life experiences, along with divorce and death.  If an employee is living with someone who is going through this doesn’t it stand to reason that this is affecting your employee as well? And does this stress decrease your employee’s productivity?  According to a recent study, yes it does.

Associate Professor Maw-Der Foo and lead author Professor Zhaoli Song of the National University of Singapore co-authored a paper called “Unraveling the Stress Crossover Between the Unemployed and Their Spouses”.  To summarize part of what they discovered, an unemployed spouse can mean a less productive employee.  According to Foo, “our findings call for more attention on the family as an integrated system in responding to the unemployment situation.”

Can and should your organization do anything to assist?  I can think of a few reasons that you should: 

• A calmer and happier employee will be more productive.
• Engagement and retention rates will be higher for those who feel supported by their organization.
• Demonstrating that you care for your employees will positively influence your corporate culture and brand, making you attractive to top performers when you are hiring.

Learning how to support an unemployed spouse in a healthy way could really make a difference to an employee who not only has the added burden of being the sole bread winner, but also has to navigate the emotional terrain of their partner.   But what can your company actually do?

Offer stress management information.  This could be in the form of newsletters, literature, webinars or a counseling session on site.  This could also be as simple as sending a mass email with a link to a relevant article every Friday.

Provide coaching for the employee.  These employees may find themselves stuck between being so compassionate they end up enabling and pushing so hard they seem uncaring.  A healthy balance makes all the difference in successfully supporting their spouse.

Schedule financial management workshops focused on suggestions of how to save money.  Most people have experienced the fear of instability in one way or another over the last couple of years.  As a result, more people are thinking of the future.  This means that practical suggestions on how to live on less money would be very useful, not only to employees with an unemployed spouse but to all employees.

Create a support group within the organization.  This could be done using social media or your intranet.  You could also provide resources to external support groups that already exist.

Taking a little initiative to understand and assist this employee challenge can mean a big payoff for your company.

I am fascinated by ROWE, which stands for Results Only Work Environment and is exactly that - an environment where how, when and where work is accomplished is completely irrelevant. 

Most managers say they evaluate employee performance on the results produced, but is this true?  Don’t things like showing up for work, being available for and attending meetings, and managing corporate politics play a large part in how an employee is evaluated?  With ROWE all of these things are thrown out the window and employees are  evaluated strictly on the quality of work produced. 

ROWE, quite simply, revolves around trusting your employees.  And trusting employees increases engagement and motivation which increases productivity for the company as a whole.  As you know, I am all about instilling trust and the benefits of it, but is it realistic?

This article does a nice job of summarizing the components of creating this type of work environment as well as the types of businesses where it could be successful and the industries where it could not.  I personally find the whole concept very appealing and can see how it could create the type of corporate culture that would not only attract the best and the brightest, but would be a great retention tool as well.  Then, when I stop to think about the details involved in actually running a company this way it’s hard to wrap my head around the fact that anything could actually be accomplished in a timely manner.

Doesn’t a successful company revolve around commitments and deadlines managed by numerous people to accomplish the business objectives?  How do you manage that without meetings, set availability of team members and mandatory updates on progress?  And legally, are the complications it presents worth the rewards?

Have any of you encountered this type of management philosophy?  Was it difficult to implement and do you see better results than a traditionally run organization?  Are your employees happier and more productive and is the quality of their work higher?  Please share real-life experiences in the comments.

As I was perusing discussions on LinkedIn I came across a conversation about whether or not HR should allow hospitalized employees to work from their sick beds.  Once I started thinking about this and reading opinions, I realized that there are many angles to consider when determining what to do.

Simple Logistics:

Can the job be done effectively away from the office?  Does the company have to provide the equipment to make this possible?  Do you allow others in your organization to work remotely?  How much of a burden will be added to the person managing the sick employee?  How long is the anticipated recovery?

Legal Issues:

Are you obligated by the Americans with Disability Act to offer working from the hospital as an option?  This act states that not making reasonable accommodations to the known physical or mental limitations of disabled employees is discrimination.  Is it discriminatory if you don’t provide the option if their doctors have approved this plan?

Financial Considerations:

Does your organization offer short or long term disability and sick pay?  If the employee is only able to work (and get paid for) a few hours a day, would he/she become ineligible for these benefits and ultimately suffer financial hardships at a time where he/she is probably racking up additional expenses?  From the company’s point of view, what about the differences between exempt and non-exempt employees?  If the employee is non-exempt you only pay for hours he/she tracks and submits.  Exempt employees will be paid for a full week even he/she is only able to work a few hours.

Physical and Mental Ramifications:

Will this situation prove stressful for the employee and will that end up affecting recovery?  Is working like this something the employee wants or is it something he/she feels is necessary?  On the flip side, could providing the opportunity to work from the hospital assist in the recovery process?  It could give keep him/her a purpose and inspire the employee to stay hopeful thereby taking his/her mind off of being ill.

Answering this question is a challenge and obviously each situation is unique, but if it makes sense there is a definite upside to working toward a solution that accommodates the sick employee.  You are sending an emphatic message that the people in your organization matter and this should improve employee engagement.

Research shows that one very important factor in why older workers leave their jobs is because they don’t feel like they are needed anymore. Older employees will get discouraged when they feel their purpose is in doubt, anyone else in the company can do what they do – and more effectively, and if they start to feel like they are simply taking up space.

I previously posted about attracting and engaging Generation Y employees. That certainly needs to be addressed but another fact is that mature workers have a lot of experience, knowledge, and wisdom that can help your company be more successful. And this means that you need retention strategies for all the generations in your workforce. So what can you do to retain your older employees?

Start a mentoring program. This will help engage your younger employees while at the same time giving purpose and value to the older employees.

Encourage career development. Nothing sends the message that there isn’t any potential left than assuming older employees are uninterested in honing their skills or learning new ones. In addition, you can really benefit from the fact that years of working mean older employees are pretty quick learners.

Consider offering retirement preparation counseling. Just because someone can retire doesn’t mean they will. Older employees just want more control over their future. Providing assistance in this way may produce some interesting results, like someone moving into a different role within the organization or suggesting a consulting or telecommuting role where they continue to help your company on terms that appeal to the employee.

Be open to horizontal career moves. Many mature employees get bored and changing it up a bit may be all that is needed to relight the fire they’ve had in the past.

Provide a specialized wellness program. Incentivize mature employees to participate and offer programs that share dietary and exercise advice. Many older employees are beginning to think of these things in their personal lives. Providing expertise for them at work gives them another reason to stay and to feel valued.

Older employees are more loyal and tend to want to work at one place for the rest of their careers. They also have a strong work ethic, a deep knowledge base and are not as interested in climbing the corporate ladder. All of these can be of huge benefit to you in terms of lower turnover, which is expensive and great experience that can be passed onto your younger employees.  Because they are not fighting for the next promotion they also tend to stay in their jobs longer. 

Understand that retention programs can’t be exactly the same for everyone. Take a look at the percentage of mature workers your company employs and then realize that implementing strategies to retain this group is not only going to reduce costs, but can make your organization more successful.

I listed a few reasons in my previous post that help explain why Gen Y has the work ethic and value system that they have.  Using this knowledge can help you get a better understanding of the things they are looking for when choosing an employer. This, in turn, will ultimately help your organization determine what you need to provide to attract the key talent from this generation and then retain it.

If this generation is focused on minimizing some of the “stuff” their parents worked so hard to get, is more money going to be a huge incentive? If they expect to be praised and appreciated can you manage them effectively with the mindset that “they have to put in their time”?  If you have a generation of employees who believe they can and should have it all, does it make sense to ignore career development in your organization?  If you understand their need for work/life balance based on the fact that they’ve witnessed that life can be very, very short, could your company choose its battles when it comes to things like sabbaticals and volunteer opportunities?  Knowing that this generation is extremely adept and comfortable with technology, will it create the right culture to monitor them like crazy rather than encourage them to spread their knowledge?

In the next five years, we will experience the largest turnover in human capital history. Generation Y has a confidence in their talents and their own self-worth that is unusual in previous generations.  To some companies, it feels like they are being held hostage by these young employees.  In reality, it is just a different approach to work.  Is it impossible to embrace this approach while keeping your mature workforce satisfied?  I don’t know the answer to that but it seems to me that if everyone gets the same choices, why not?  New choices should help everyone.  Here are some examples:

Flexible work schedules.  Gen Y prefers to be measured on the quality of work they do, not the hours they spend doing it.  Other generations may appreciate this new way of working, particularly if they are caring for young children or elderly parents.

Volunteer programs with time off to participate.  Gen Y wants to feel appreciated and that what they do is meaningful.  While they work their way up from entry level work, this could fulfill that need.  Other generations may appreciate the time to give back too, as they juggle their families and responsibilities. 

Focus on Career Development.  Gen Y wants to learn and grow.  If you want to keep them, you may have to provide work and training that will help them move on.  Ironically enough, this will help them stay.  Older generations should respond well, too.  This is one of the perks that engages most employees anyway.

Provide team spaces versus traditional conference rooms.  Gen Y is all about collaboration and mobility.  They don’t want to be stuck behind a desk.  The rest of your workforce might appreciate a more social atmosphere as well.

Develop a mentoring program for technology.  Gen Y doesn’t even think when it comes to using technology – it is the way they’ve always done things.  Enlist their help in updating your company’s technological goals.  They want to feel they are doing something meaningful and implementing programs like this will provide that for them.  Plus you get to tap into their knowledge to educate and inspire your mature workforce so your organization can be on the cutting edge.

Like it or not, the power in the workforce is shifting from the executives to the younger professionals.  This change doesn’t have to be bad.  With some understanding and a little creativity, these changes could end up positively impacting your entire corporate culture.

Many companies are facing the challenge of attracting and retaining top talent.  Many of these employees are part of the Millenial Generation, or Gen Y – those between the ages of 15 and 30.  Gen Y is often viewed as spoiled, demanding, entitled, and unable to accept criticism of any kind.  Maybe if we take a look at WHY Gen Y developed the mindset they have, we can get a better understanding of how to manage them and why it may make sense to accommodate some of their desires.  In a future post, I will discuss things that could help bridge the gap but first there is a need to understand.  To fix a problem, you have to be able to identify it. 

Here are some of the things that have shaped this generation:

Financial security.  Most of this generation grew up watching their parents work long and hard hours to gain money and status.  They have not experienced their parents struggling with mass unemployment and financial difficulties.  To them, work was something that got you more, not enough.  Because of this they believe they can have it all, particularly if you are satisfied with less materialistically.

A child-centralized upbringing.  Gen Y had more of their parents’ time than previous generations.  As a result they tend to believe they should be praised for everything they do and they also expect their work to be meaningful and appreciated, even at the entry level.  They don’t have the mindset that they need to “pay their dues”.  They want what they want and are not embarrassed to ask for it because they feel they deserve it.

Working mothers.  This generation didn’t have to adjust to mom working outside the home, like generations before.  For many of them, this is the way it always was.  They are used to women in leadership roles and know that if they choose, women can work full time and raise a family.  This supports the belief that they can and should have it all.

Terrorism, disasters, and tragedies.  Think about 9/11, Columbine and the rash of nationwide school shootings that followed.  Consider the natural disasters that have occurred like Hurricane Katrina and the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.  The lesson learned here is that there is more to life than work.  Everything can be over in a moment so why work back-breaking hours for material things?  Relationships are more important and life must be enjoyed.  Gen Y is all about the search for work-life balance.

Technology.  Gen Y is the first generation to have used technology ALWAYS.  The internet was always on, people always texted, social media is a way to have relationships.  Perhaps because of this, a lot of their interaction revolves around groups.  Communication is predominantly faceless, and privacy and solitude are things they’ve rarely seen.  Due to this, many don’t see a need for face time and one-on-one interaction.  To other generations, this may seem cold and insensitive but to them it is normal.  Meetings may seem like a waste of time when you could just discuss the issue over instant message. 

Dealing with generational differences in the workplace can be challenging.  Starting by gaining a little understanding of why these employees are who they are can help remove some of the negativity around the way they are viewed.

We are all familiar with the ongoing debate about whether Human Resources is strategic, whether it should be, and what role HR plays in the business goals of an organization.  I was trolling Amazon and ended up reading one of their “Look Inside” sections of Stephen Covey’s The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness.  Suddenly, the importance of Human Resources jumped off the page and I can’t even see how it’s really debatable.  Now I know this is a book from the middle of the last decade with research from that time, but I don’t think the relevance has changed.

Human Resources has been defined as “the name of the function within an organization charged with the overall responsibility for implementing strategies and policies relating to the management of individuals.”   So, in the broadest terms, if your role is to manage your workforce, take a look at the following for examples of how pivotal HR is to an organization.

Covey, citing data from a Harris Questionnaire of 23,000 U.S. residents employed full time in key industries and in key functional areas, summarizes the research that explains what employees are thinking.  As you read these, think engagement, talent optimization, retention, culture, relaying strategic business goals, and all the other HR buzzwords and functions that make up the things you need to worry about as an HR professional.

• Only 37 percent said they have a clear understanding of what their organization is trying to achieve and why.
• Only 1 in 5 was enthusiastic about their team’s and organization’s goals.
• Only 1 in 5 workers said they have a clear “line of sight” between their tasks and their team’s and organization’s goals.
• Only half were satisfied with the work they have accomplished at the end of the week.
• Only 15 percent felt that they organization fully enables them to execute key goals.
• Only 15 percent felt they worked in a high-trust environment.
• Only 17 percent felt their organization fosters open communication that is respectful of differing opinions and that results in new and better ideas.
• Only 10 percent felt that their organization holds people accountable for results.
• Only 20 percent fully trusted the organization they worked for.
• Only 13 percent have high-trust, highly cooperative working relationships with other groups or departments.

I think anyone would agree that these are problems.  When it comes to fixing them, how could anyone BUT Human Resources be effective?   Managing the above IS managing individuals.    

And if skeptics don’t see the importance of addressing these misperceptions (remember, perception matters more than what is real here), give them Covey’s example:

“If, say, a soccer team had these same scores, only four of the eleven players on the field would know which goal is theirs. Only two of the eleven would care. Only two of the eleven would know what position they play and know exactly what they are supposed to do. And all but two players would, in some way, be competing against their own team members rather than the opponent.”

Do you think this team’s going to win many games?  Do any of the other issues that plague an organization matter as much if this is the mindset of its employees?  By managing the individuals, HR is laying the groundwork for the company’s success.

I’ve mentioned in the past how business is no longer a top down hierarchy or a command and control environment.  These days it’s all about connecting and collaborating.  With this in mind, I’ve seen lists and watched videos about the benefit of using Wiki tools internally with your teams.   New ways of doing business require upgrading the tools you use to achieve your business goals.  Is your company still using old tools?

Here is an example of one new tool that many feel can change the productivity of meetings, along with the way your employees view them.   Right now, many employees have negative feelings toward meetings.  They are not productive, too much time is wasted, and too much irrelevant conversation takes place without anything getting accomplished.  Traction Team professes to make meetings shorter and far more productive and I can see how this would be true. 

 The idea is to start by posting an agenda for a meeting on the page in advance.  Participants could then contribute and edit the agenda.  Although this sounds like a bit of a nightmare - multiple people editing an agenda –  think about it from the collaboration perspective. 

This tool provides the ability to have threaded conversation regarding the document and that could mean that some of the agenda line items get resolved before the meeting even takes place.  Employees could volunteer within this team page to handle certain tasks, thereby removing them from the agenda.  A priority list could also emerge, making the meeting far more productive when it actually takes place.  This is also a place where knowledge and information are shared and documented and can be accessed in the future.  Rather than emails going back and forth or a summary document each employee receives after the meeting, there is now a place the entire community can access and use as a reference to refresh their memory of what took place or see who was assigned which task.   This could also be helpful to the team when they begin a new initiative because it will show a roadmap of past decisions and help them see what was effective and what was not.

There are literally hundreds of these tools available that can be embedded into the workflow to encourage collaboration, productivity, and communication.  One of your roles in HR is to communicate with your employees.  Have you recommended any upgrades?  Does your organization use tools like this?  Have they improved communication with your employees?  What experiences have you had?  Please share examples in the comments.

Many times HR is placed in a position to deliver a message, sometimes to a particular employee, sometimes to the masses. Obviously I’m a big proponent of telling the truth even though it can be difficult – I’ve written about the importance of being truthful in creating and maintaining a transparent culture, how being truthful leads to trust and why trust is so important, and how telling the truth engages, motivates, and inspires your workforce.

Idealistically, making the commitment to be truthful to your employees results in many positive outcomes. Realistically however, there are hidden challenges in the way your employees think that could impact how accurately your message is perceived.  In many cases, there isn’t much you can do about it either – they are simply thought processes that exist within the employee receiving your message. But knowledge is power and knowing these challenges are out there can be helpful in how you move forward.

• Everyone has a comfort zone and it can be difficult to get your employees to consider ideas or make decisions outside of it. If the truth you try to deliver doesn’t fall within a place of security for them, you may be challenged by their desire to distort what they’ve heard.

• Selective hearing is another challenge. Employees subconsciously hear what they want to hear, and tend to support the things that match or support their own beliefs while discounting those that don’t. This can make it difficult to know the information was relayed  accurately, particularly since you may not be intimately familiar with their value and belief systems.

• The way your employees view you, the company and themselves also comes into play. If your employees don’t like you or the company or agree with how either operate, they are not likely to believe you or give credence to the message you are trying to deliver. Likewise, they will tend to view themselves as having better judgment and higher morals than you. All of this means that your message will be disregarded more easily. If they like you and the organization, odds are they will be more accepting of what you are trying to say, regardless of what it is.

• Employees often believe that their successes are based on talent and ability, while yours are most likely luck. Their personal failures are attributed to external factors and bad luck, but yours are due to your own mistakes. This presents a challenge for you in terms of credibility. And if your employees think you are less credible than they are, doesn’t this impact the way they hear your message?

• Employees often conform to their group’s mindset. This could mean their team or department and the level of unconscious conformity may depend on how tightly knit their group is. And they are probably unaware that this desire to conform exists. For you, this means that their response to a message may not be their own and they may not even know that.

All of these examples are difficult to recognize – they are, after all,  subconscious thought processes. Knowing that the possibility exists that one (or more) of them are affecting what is heard can help you craft and deliver a more effective message.

Many years ago, job hopping was viewed as the first red flag on a resume.  Those resumes that showed multiple jobs over the previous 5-10 years were instantly moved to the “not interested right now” pile.  If no solid candidates were in the rest of the pile the resume might get a second look, but for the most part that resume was considered out of the running. 

But with the current economy, has this changed?  It seems as though it should.   There is even information out there that suggests that hiring a job hopper could be good for the employer .

There are many reasons why job hopping does not necessarily mean the candidate is a risk.  Here are a few to consider:

• Many companies are moving to more contract and temporary employees in order to save money, particularly on benefits.  Contracts may not have been renewed or the employee was brought in on a short term basis for project work from the start.

• Many candidates were laid off in the last couple years but unlike years past, this does not necessarily mean it was due to poor performance.  When corporations are laying off hundreds, it is not realistic to believe that all those affected were poor performers.

• With the economy shifting so dramatically in the past few years many companies restructured significantly.  Candidates may have been affected by these changes in strategy a everyone tried to tighten up.

• With all the other changes in organization and acquisitions, a lot of bosses were afraid of losing their jobs.  They may have sold a complete turnaround to their bosses as an attempt to retain their own employment.  The result could be that the job itself changed considerably and the employee was no longer a fit for the organization.

• Candidates affected by organizational changes may have taken other jobs just to pay their bills.  The news about unemployment was not good and the mindset for a few years seemed to be that you better take any job just to have one, since there were so few out there.  The luxury of looking for the perfect fit was pushed aside for quite a while and candidates have been in survival mode. 

If the job hopping was due to some of the reasons above and was essentially out of the employee’s control,  isn’t it possible a job hopper would make the perfect employee?  Doesn’t it stand to reason that some of these candidates are seeking loyalty, security, and stability?